"…Still not enough."
Romu looked at the shattered rock, withdrew his fist, and sat back down to think.
After fighting Zephyr, he'd started taking the three types of Haki even more seriously.
His Haki was already strong—strong enough to be called top-tier.
But compared to specialists like Zephyr—people who'd pushed one type of Haki to its absolute extreme—Romu was still missing that final edge.
Observation Haki
This was his weakest area.
Right now, his Observation range was around a hundred meters, and he could catch a blurry glimpse about one second ahead.
That was far behind true Observation monsters.
Specialists like Dark King Rayleigh—and Big Mom's future commander Katakuri—were in a different category:
One excelled in range, blanketing entire islands.
The other excelled in future sight, and even if Romu didn't know the exact duration, it was obviously longer than his vague one-second glimpse.
Conqueror's Haki
Romu understood something most people didn't:
Conqueror's wasn't just for wiping fodder.
Just like Armament, it had a higher-tier application—
Conqueror's coating.
Roger. Whitebeard.
And in the future, Shanks and Kaido.
They were all masters of Conqueror's.
And Rocks? No need to even debate it—he was absolutely one of the top Conqueror's-coating users on the sea.
In a sense, Conqueror's coating was the symbol of a true king standing at the world's summit.
Armament Haki
Then there was the most widely used type: Armament.
Romu's "Ryūō"—the kind that bypassed the surface and inflicted damage from the inside—was unquestionably one of the top-tier techniques.
The only reason he'd struggled against Zephyr's "Black Arm" wasn't technique.
It was focus.
Romu simply hadn't poured the same obsessive dedication into Armament strength that Zephyr had.
If Romu's Armament hardness matched Zephyr's, then their earlier Armament clash would've ended with Romu winning.
Devil Fruit Power
As for his fruit… the Wood-Wood Fruit was a straight-up cheat.
As long as he kept consuming life essence, it would keep growing stronger.
But the fight with Zephyr exposed a weakness:
His plant constructs had more than enough destructive output, but their raw durability lagged behind.
If his recovery wasn't so absurd, he might've been the one forced to retreat.
He'd tried coating his plants with Armament.
It worked—
but it was extremely unstable.
It lasted only briefly—nowhere near reliable enough for real combat.
As for awakening…
Contrary to Zephyr's assumptions, Romu had not awakened yet.
And he still wasn't sure how the Wood-Wood Fruit even would awaken.
But he suspected that once it did, the Armament-coating instability would solve itself.
And if his physique was strong enough by then…
If he could fully coat a "True Thousand Hands" in Armament—
Would it turn into something like a "Susanoo + Great Buddha" monster?
Romu tapped the table in rhythm.
His brow furrowed deeper.
God Valley was coming soon—maybe even bigger than it should've been.
And the more he thought about it, the clearer it became:
There were too many things he still needed to sharpen.
It made him uneasy.
What he kept forgetting was the most terrifying part—
He'd only been training for three years.
Rocks, Zephyr, even the World Government's top minds all assumed he'd been forging himself since childhood.
And they still called him an unmatched talent.
If they knew it was only three years… Rocks would fall silent, Zephyr would weep—
and the Five Elders would panic so hard they'd mobilize everything immediately.
Because that wasn't "monster" talent anymore.
That was terror.
Romu exhaled slowly and rubbed his temple, forcing his mind into clarity.
Haki and fruit power had to improve together.
But both shared one foundation:
a stronger body.
And for him, that meant one thing:
more life essence.
He ran through options:
Pirates. Marines. Bounty hunters. Human powerhouses…
Or non-human sources.
If he had time, human elites were the best choice.
But God Valley was close.
Beating and consuming top humans took time—too much time.
Like Zephyr.
Romu was confident he could eventually kill and absorb him, but only under specific conditions—like Zephyr committing to a prolonged war of attrition.
And chances to isolate monsters like that were rare.
Romu's eyes narrowed.
"…Then I'll have to make time."
He muttered under his breath.
"I'm going to the Calm Belt."
To absorb Sea Kings.
He'd done it before.
The quantity was massive—you could spend half a day draining one.
But the "quality" wasn't satisfying.
One normal Sea King was roughly equivalent to a human worth a few million… maybe ten million Beli.
Useful.
But nowhere near a true apex human.
Like Rocks.
Absorbing one man like that would be worth who knew how many Sea Kings.
A ruler who could dominate an era had a physique beyond "human" altogether. Even the largest Sea Kings couldn't compare.
"…Rocks."
The moment the name surfaced, a spark flashed through Romu's mind.
He turned and looked toward Hachinosu.
Hachinosu — Skull Rock Summit
At the very top of Skull Rock, Rocks suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine—pure instinct, sharp and cold.
He scanned his surroundings.
Nothing.
Still, his expression grew grim.
"…God Valley's ritual must be getting close."
"It's making my nerves act up."
And the unease lingered.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto